by Peach, Hanna
“Why me? I’m not qualified to be a Guardian. I have no powers, no magic of my own.”
“You have more power than you realize.”
“The power to get people killed,” Alyx muttered.
Raphael looked almost disappointed in her. “I thought you just solved the riddle of the greatest power on Earth. Don’t you believe it?”
Love. “I…do…but…”
“But what?”
“You’re telling me that I was chosen to guard Israel because I love him?” Alyx shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense. I didn’t even know him when I became his Guardian.”
“You always loved him, Alyx. You just hadn’t met him yet.”
“So…I was chosen to guard him because I was destined to fall in love with him?”
Raphael nodded, the disappointment turning to a pleased look. “Exactly.”
“But why is that my power?”
“Because no one will know him like you, or protect him like you, or force him to change into what he needs to be, apart from you.”
Alyx let this sink into her bones before she spoke again. “But I’m not enough. What if I’m not enough?”
“You alone aren’t. But you aren’t alone in this, Alyx. You have never been alone in this.”
You’re not alone in this. Israel’s voice echoed in her memory. He was always telling her that. He had been telling her that since they first were thrust together. She knew intellectually that she wasn’t alone. Her mind accepted this fact. She had Israel but… Every fiber of her being, her life so far, her upbringing, had forced her into trusting almost no one, into believing that she had to do it alone and reminded her that even though she had Israel now, he would one day be taken from her. His delicate hold on life, his mortality, was just a ticking bomb, a crumbling base that would one day break apart from her to reveal that she was, fundamentally, still alone. Loneliness almost never comes from the outside, but from within.
“Why doesn’t God just step in and stop all of this? Why work through me and Israel?”
“Have you ever watched a butterfly struggling to come out from a chrysalis?”
“What has that to do with it?”
“It has everything to do with it.”
“How?”
“Answer my question and you will find your answer.”
Alyx sighed, still doubting that she would find any answer to any great question in the life cycle of an insect. “Yes, I’ve seen it.”
“Why do you think God designed the butterfly to struggle? Why not design an easier escape? A cocoon with thinner walls, perhaps? Or one with a door?”
“I… I don’t know.”
“Let me put it another way…did you know that if you were to tear open the chrysalis for the butterfly, he would soon die, weak and lost. Why do you think that is?”
Alyx stayed silent as she let this wash over her. She remembered all the times in Michaelea training when she was fighting against a taller, stronger opponent and being knocked around. All those times Symon could have stepped in and ended the fight but he never did. So she just kept getting knocked around until she learned to use other means of defeating her opponent − her nimbleness, her size, her brains − rather than sheer muscle. Symon could have prevented her struggle and all her pain, but it also would have stunted her growth as a warrior. It was because of Symon that she was now able to take down men twice her size and triple her brute strength, like when she took down Terrapin, one of Mason’s street pirates in a one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat.
“We must struggle to grow,” she realized.
“Exactly. Part of the growth of that butterfly is in the struggle. He grows strong because of the struggle and he finds himself within that struggle. Wouldn’t it then be cruel to prevent the butterfly from going through the greatest lesson of his life?”
“So you’re saying,” Alyx said slowly, “that we on Earth are butterflies?”
The smile on Raphael beamed and if Alyx wasn’t mistaken, he even looked proud. “And what beautiful butterflies you are.”
“That’s why God shut away the Seraphim on Earth. This is our cocoon.”
Raphael nodded. “The Seraphim have lessons that we needed to learn too.”
“But weren’t the Elders made to be perfect? What did they have to learn?”
“There was a feeling growing amongst the Elders that He was being too kind to the mortals on the planet. We argued and fought. There grew a separation between us all.”
“So this was some sort of punishment.”
“Goodness, no. God knew that locked away on Earth the Seraphim would become more and more human as time went by. We were forced to work together, to build a society, rules, order. In our earthly bodies we discovered the deliciousness of sex and learned that we could have children. We began to feel, to laugh, to sing, to cry. We felt jealousy and pride for the first time. We learned to love and we learned to hate. We learned sorrow because these bodies could die. And for the first time for us, we didn’t know what would come next. There were no more instructions. We finally had free will. Free will to make all our own decisions, what to do, how to live, and unfortunately for some, this idea became dangerous. Some believe that control is the only way to maintain order.”
Some like Michael. “So we were forced to become more human so we would understand what it was like to be human.”
Raphael nodded. “The first step is understanding.”
Alyx took a deep breath and let this all sink in. She stared at this divine being before her who had followed the strands of time from the very dawn. It humbled her just to be in his presence.
“Is there anything you want to ask me before we go back?” he asked.
“Will I defeat Michael?”
Raphael laughed out loud but it wasn’t unkind. “Dear girl, I’m not a Magic 8 Ball. I can’t tell the future. That is partially up to you.”
Alyx smiled, a bit embarrassed. Then fleetingly wondered how he managed to even know what a Magic 8 Ball was. But before she could ask him, an image of Israel floated into her mind that caused her heart to tighten. It was the image of him as an old man, dying in her arms. If she could know where he would be going…
“Raphael,” her voice was nearly a whisper, “what happens when you die?”
He smiled. “Oh, Alyx. What you call Death is just another beginning.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Try again,” Israel said to Sparrow.
The boy’s shoulders fell and he blew out huff of air, ruffling the hair across his forehead. In his palm he held a small glass orb, a soulglobe, Tobias had called it. It was infused with MemorySong magic and contained a series of simple images that Tobias had implanted into it.
Israel was standing with Sparrow in the indoor training room, a large space on the first floor of the castle with high windows and long banners that fell down the walls between the windows. He had been relieved to find that the jolt of GiftKeeper magic that Sparrow had worked on him had quickly faded.
Sparrow was trying to draw the magic out of the orb in a controlled way. They would know it worked when he was able to see the images implanted in the orb. Piki was fluttering around twittering as if he were trying to give pointers too.
“Just focus on your breath first. Focusing on your breath will give you control. Only then do you slowly draw the magic in.”
“Easy for you to say,” Sparrow said. “Your control is perfect.”
Israel tilted his head at the boy. He looked so dejected. Israel wondered if that was what he looked like when The Elder had been training him. That wasn’t so long ago.
“You know, I only started training a few weeks ago.”
“That’s a lie.”
“No, I swear. And when I started,” Israel said, “I had worse control than you.” He laughed as he remembered his first training session with the Elder. “My teacher tried to get me to move a feather around. The damn thing went every which way except for the way I wanted it to go.
”
Sparrow pressed his lip together with a grim determination on his face. He glared at the orb as if glaring at it might force it to reveal its secrets. Israel could feel the anger and frustration bubbling out of him. The boy was wild just like he had been. Israel felt the change in the air pressure and the hair on his arms rose up. “Sparrow, I think−”
Too late. The magic crackled out of Sparrow like a dark ebony firework had gone off. Sparrow jumped and dropped the orb. It hit the floor with a loud cracking sound. The magic lashed out at Israel. Out of instinct, Israel raised up his palms in defense and all of his magic pushed out of him. His Air magic met Sparrow’s magic. But instead of exploding, the strangest thing happened. Israel’s Air swept around Sparrow’s magic and held it like one would hold a bird in a fist.
Holy hell.
Israel hadn’t realized that he could use his Air magic to hold other magic. Could he control it?
Israel directed his magic, moving it slowly, Sparrow’s GiftKeeper pulse still curled in a tight ball inside it, quivering like an angry wasp. Holy wow. It looked like he could control other magic with his own.
Israel made patterns in the air with these duel magics, then he gently let them fall to the ground where they broke apart and soaked into the stone floor, dispersing harmlessly.
When Israel turned to look at Sparrow, his eyes were like saucers. “That was so cool.”
Israel shook his head, still slightly stunned at this revelation. “I didn’t realize I could do it. There’s a lot about my magic that I’m just learning. My situation, what I am, it’s unique and there’s no manual for it.” He grinned lopsidedly at Sparrow. “Kinda like you. Guess we can figure out our magic together?”
For the first time that morning, a small smile appeared on Sparrow’s face. “Okay.”
“Do you want to try again?”
The smile fell from Sparrow’s face. He stared at the orb on the ground as if it were a snake. Israel walked over to it and picked it up. It was a wonder it hadn’t actually broken against the stone.
“You won’t scare the thing out of its secrets. You need to relax. Now try again.” When he turned his head to look at Sparrow, a ray of sunshine danced across Israel’s eyes from one of the high windows. It gave him an idea.
Alyx had told him not to venture farther from the training grounds while she was away, but if he could take Sparrow somewhere quiet, maybe into the nearby forest, it might help him relax into his magic. A little sunshine and fresh air always helped him concentrate better. Definitely better than training in a dusty room in a cold castle. It’s not like he was going off the castle grounds… What would be the harm?
“Come on, Sparrow,” Israel said. “Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter Nineteen
Alyx suddenly found herself back in Raphael’s lab by the copper vases. Her skin and clothes were dry, her arm was dripping water on the floor and in her palm was the Amulet piece.
Varian, Do’hann and Tii’la were all still frozen exactly as they were before she was swallowed by the water. They looked like statues made of marble. Everything was the same except now Raphael stood near her.
“How are they all frozen?” she asked.
“It’s a kind of magic. We’re existing in the space between time.”
“So they won’t know that I left.”
“No. Once I take us out of this in-between time, barely a split second will have passed for them.”
“They won’t have seen or heard you here?”
“No.”
Alyx narrowed her eyes at Varian. “So if I kicked him in the−”
“Alyx,” admonished Raphael.
“Sorry,” she said sheepishly.
Alyx caught sight of the fake Amulet in the vase next to her. She got an idea.
“Raphael, what would happen if I took an Amulet from one of the other vases?”
“But they’re fake.”
“I know that. You know that…but they don’t.”
“Ah, I see,” Raphael looked to Varian. “Smart girl. Yes, you can take one of the fakes.”
“No certain ‘destructions’ if I remove it from its vase?”
“The riddle has been solved. The ‘destruction’ has been disabled.”
“Good to know.”
Alyx stuck her hand into the vase marked Death with her left hand and pulled out one of the fake Amulets. It looked exactly like the real one in her right hand. Better not confuse the two, she thought. She glanced around. Now, where to put the real one? It couldn’t remain with her, just in case Varian or Do’hann realized that she didn’t give them the real one and searched her. It would have to be somewhere safe…retrievable…and the last place that Varian would look…
Alyx moved towards where Tii’la was standing. Tii’la’s eyes were wide with concern and fixed on the vase marked Love. Alyx held Tii’la’s right hand, down by her side. Her skin was soft and warm but Alyx couldn’t feel her pulse; her heart was in between heartbeats. Alyx tucked the real Amulet into her fingers.
“Before you let time speed up again,” she said to Raphael, “can I just do one more thing?”
Raphael’s look was quizzical. “Sure.”
Alyx moved over to Varian. Even in his non-moving state, she felt her body become apprehensive as she neared him. She could see where he had tucked one of her swords into his hip. It was a beautiful thin silver sword with a simple handle that one of the FreeThinker Alchemists had forged for her. It hadn’t the elaborate metalwork of Ferrum, her old blade maker in Michaelea, but it was all the things a sword should be: light, sharp and weighted just right. She wanted it back.
Alyx carefully unsheathed the sword from his hip; she didn’t think he’d have time to notice. She moved back to the vase marked Love and slipped the sword into it, point down. It just fit. Perfect.
She placed her hand back in the vase with the fake Amulet so that she was now exactly as she was when time slowed down. She turned to Raphael to speak but she paused when she saw he look on his face. “Why do you look disappointed?”
“Oh. Well, I was sure you were going to kick him in the−”
Alyx choked on a laugh. “Raphael!”
He grinned. “Are you ready?”
She nodded. “Thanks, Raphael. For everything.”
“I knew you wouldn’t disappoint.”
“Just out of interest, what exactly would have happened if I had chosen the wrong answer?”
“You wouldn’t have.” He smiled as his image began to fade. “And Alyx…don’t forget what you learned on the last test.”
“You mean the greatest power?”
Raphael nodded. “Remember that love is greater than death.”
Alyx felt a chill run down her spine. “I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me.”
Raphael’s image was translucent now and fading fast. She could see all the way through him to the benches and beakers on the other side of him. “You will.”
From one second to the next, the silence was filled with breathing, stillness became movement and all the general vibrations of life.
Did that all really happen with Raphael? She might have believed that she imagined it all except for the faint smell of smoke in the back of her nostrils reminding her of what would happen if she failed.
“Give it to me.” Varian stood before her scowling at her with his hand extended. His blade in his other hand was pointed towards her throat. Alyx hesitated. She didn’t want to appear too eager to hand him over the fake. The tip of Varian’s blade pressed against her throat. “Or I take it from your lifeless body.”
Alyx slowly extended her left hand and Varian snatched it from her. He held it up and stared at it as the charm twisted on the end of its chain. “Beautiful.”
Alyx chanced a look at Tii’la. Her eyes were alert. She glanced down quickly at her hand, curled at her side so that neither Varian nor Do’hann could see its contents if they happened to look at her. Her mouth parted when she saw the gift in
her hand. Tii’la’s eyes darted to Alyx. Alyx could see the wonder and a how the hell did you do that look on her face.
Come on Tii’la, control your face. Do’hann and Varian could look at you at any second.
Thankfully neither of them noticed her. They were too busy admiring the Amulet they had come here to steal. The fake Amulet. Tii’la slipped the real one into her pocket.
The chamber began to tremble. Dust began to rain down on them. The vases clinked as they shook on their marble shelf. Varian glared at Alyx as if she were the one to blame for starting this. A small ray of light shone on the ground, distracting him. It grew larger and larger. Alyx looked up. The crystal pillars that made up the ceiling were moving, pushing apart to create a small space between them as if they were people in a crowd. And there was the sky. The ceiling was opening to reveal a way out.
Now was her chance. Alyx punched her fist through the vase, closing her hand around the sword handle as the pottery burst. She ignored the shards of pottery cutting into her arm.
She brandished her sword and moved towards Tii’la, yelling, “Get behind me.”
Tii’la did so, disappearing out of her periphery. Do’hann and Varian both unsheathed their swords.
“Put down your weapons before you hurt yourself,” Alyx said.
“You think you’re so clever,” said Varian. “Well, don’t we have a surprise for you.”
Chapter Twenty
What if Cleo is hurt…or worse?
As Jordan and Lukas flew as fast as they could towards their home, this was the one though that kept repeating in Jordan’s mind. Ahead of them the dark cloud moved like a storm towards everything they loved. Zulu, one of Lukas’ swallow friends, was flying on the other side of Lukas, screeching out a desperate message to any other feathered friends to pass on, to try and warn Tobias and the community that Hell was coming. Would the message get to them in time?
I didn’t get to say sorry to Cleo.
Jordan cursed himself for hesitating that morning at her door. He should have knocked. He should have told her that she wasn’t a nuisance, okay maybe an adorable nuisance with her constant teasing and inappropriate questions, but it was a nuisance he had come to need in his life. He should have told her that he had been an idiot to even say anything to Alyx. I should have said sorry. It was just a word, just a simple tiny word. Why had he been so scared to talk to Cleo that morning?